This past summer, I returned to Holy Cross a week before classes started to participate in the Fullbridge Professional Edge Program, which is now a requirement of the COES Professional Rrogram at Holy Cross (learn more here http://business.holycross.edu/programs/cpp ). Fullbridge is a one week intensive program that focuses on connecting our liberal arts education to the business marketplace. The Fullbridge experience is designed so that participants leave with a knowledge of practical business skills and exposure to a typical workplace environment.
Before Fullbridge, I had been struggling with how my majors (English and Political Science) would apply to future career paths. Fullbridge, through individual career coaching, helped me realize my strengths and weaknesses and how those will translate into the workforce. Each student is assigned a career coach, who offers invaluable knowledge and experience. Throughout the course of the program, the career coach provides feedback and mentorship. My career coach, Valerie, offered me advice on how to better connect my liberal arts education and what I learn in the classroom to what I will have to do in the workplace. Since Fullbridge, I have stayed connected with Valerie, and she continues to help me as I apply to internships and leadership positions on campus.
Each day of the Fullbridge Professional Edge Program focuses on something different, covering everything from Microsoft Excel to basic analysis of financial statements. My favorite day was the second to last day, where the program focused on our career passions. In preparation for career day, we each had to take an online test that determined which career paths were best for us based on our responses. On career day, we were each given a huge sheet of paper, which we then taped to the wall. We worked in small teams, and each person had to reveal their top ten careers while the rest of the group thought of words and ideas that described this career. I left career day with a better understanding of what I want to do after I graduate Holy Cross, and that is exactly why I enrolled in The Fullbridge Program to begin with.
The Fullbridge Program is being offered this January from the 12th to the 17th. I can honestly say that participating in Fullbridge was a good decision, I left with a unique skillset and a confidence and preparedness that I had not had before the program. I encourage all of you to participate in the program if you want to gain an expert business coach, preparedness and marketability in today’s job market, confidence and skills essential to landing an internship, and an authentic network with an expanded sense of self, purpose, and direction. Don’t forget to apply now to the Fullbridge Professional Edge Program via https://fullbridge.com/programs/holycross/ :)